


Picture It

by emeraux



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: (This fic is pretty serious though to be honest), (also kaiai if you squint), And Ibuki and several others from Vanguard G are briefly mentioned, Gen, Introspection, Mild Angst, Set during the first half of episode 6 of Gears Crisis, That one episode where Shion had his breakdown, and Kai came to the rescue, by totally destroying Shion with Vanguard in a laundry room, you know the one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 04:46:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9584183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emeraux/pseuds/emeraux
Summary: Kai doesn't notice the trembling figure on the pavement until he's gotten within two feet of it.The figure- person- is bent over with their hands and knees on the ground, partially hidden in the shadowed region next to the vending machines, and illuminated only sparsely enough to be identifiable upon closer, prolonged inspection.(A brief look into episode 6 of Gears Crisis from Kai's perspective)





	

**Author's Note:**

> (There are spoilers in this for the series up till and including episode 6 of Gears Crisis! I've got a brief description of the contents of that episode in the tags, so if you don't remember watching that far, please proceed with caution!)

Kai doesn't notice the trembling figure on the pavement until he's gotten within two feet of it.

The figure- person- is bent over with their hands and knees on the ground, partially hidden in the shadowed region next to the vending machines, and illuminated only sparsely enough to be identifiable upon closer, prolonged inspection.

Kai had already been made aware of the incident that befell the Kiba family, relayed by Ibuki in a way not unlike how one would report about the statistics of some foreign disaster that occurred somewhere far away and out of direct sight. Still, Kai can understand why Ibuki chose to distance himself from the issue; Ibuki has enough on his plate as it is with his attempts to track down the elusive Myoujin Ryuzu. What happened to Kiba Shion was awful, that's for sure, but Ibuki simply didn't have the time nor resources to go out of his way to look after one unfortunate kid _and_ lead Project G at once, save keeping a cursory eye on Kiba to make sure he doesn't get into any actual danger. Kiba Shion is not Ibuki's responsibility- nor Kai's, for that matter. Kai, too, has his work cut out for him right now; aside from the workload from the G Quests, he's having enough difficulty with his own personal efforts to assist Ibuki with Project G. This battle will just have to be Kiba Shion's own to fight and resolve.

Shifting his grip on his bag strap, Kai strides over to the vending machines and uses his free hand to pull some loose change from his jacket pocket. He fiddles with the coins for a moment to count them in the dim lighting, watching, from the corner of his eye, as Kiba curls ever so slightly into himself in silence, appearing to entirely miss Kai's presence in the midst of whatever painful thoughts he must certainly be having.

Kiba is not Kai's responsibility.

But then again, neither was Kai ever Aichi's. Or Aichi's his.

Kai shoves enough change into the machine for two cans of coffee.

The sound of the cans tumbling out of the machine finally alerts Kiba of Kai's presence, as the boy turns around to stare in slack-jawed astonishment at him. "You are..."

Kai recognizes that despairing, hopeless look that flickers through Kiba's eyes for the split second before being replaced with an expression of guarded apprehension, and it's at odds with the confident image the boy had presented during Kai's visit to the Dragonic Empire Branch earlier that day. Kiba's facade of false strength had just faltered, revealing a glimpse of the raw, broken shell of the Kiba family heir that lies beneath.

Kai reaches into the dispensing tray of the vending machine and smoothly pulls out the two cans, one held between his forefinger and thumb, the other held in place in his palm by his middle, fourth and fifth fingers. He extends a can towards Kiba, who is still staring at him with a bewildered look from his position on the ground. At Kai's offer, Kiba looks even more confused, and doesn't move until Kai silently prompts him by nudging the proffered can in the air towards him in a pointed motion.

With hesitant hands, Kiba nervously accepts the coffee can from Kai. "Th-thank you, Kai-sa-"

The moment the can leaves Kai's grip, he turns on his heel and says, cutting off Kiba's halting words, "Come with me."

Kai immediately heads off without waiting; he didn't want to give Kiba the time to hesitate. A moment later, he hears the scuffling of feet and a bewildered "Kai-san?" from behind him and Kai picks up his pace without responding.

He brings Kiba to the nearby launderette, the one with a table that is just the right size for what he has in mind. Upon entering, he places his bag on the floor with a thump and leans it against the wall before taking one of the seats at the aforementioned table, sending Kiba a pointed look at the chair opposite him and across the table. Kiba hesitates for a second before slowly seating himself on the chair. The boy looks a great deal more composed than he did less than five minutes ago, which is a testament to Kiba's fortitude, but Kai could nonetheless still see the haunted look lingering in his expression, despite Kiba's obvious efforts to mask it.

If Aichi was in Kai's shoes right now, he'd probably try to help Kiba just by talking to him; he would patiently peel away the insecurities and nightmares that have haunted Kiba since that night his family's company was fractured by his own hands, offer just the right words that he needed to hear to come to terms with his failings and pick himself up from his despair. It would have been the most painless way to help him.

But Aichi isn't here, so Kiba will have to make do with Kai.

Kai reaches into his jacket and removes his deck case, watching carefully to gauge Kiba's reaction. The boy straightens his spine abruptly and Kai observes the many emotions that flicker across his face in quick succession: shock, anxiety, apprehension, a twinge of fear, and finally settling on defeat.

"Fight me." Kai orders as he places his deck on the table between them, even when he could predict that Kiba likely has no intention of doing so.

Kiba slumps in his chair, avoiding Kai's gaze by fixing his line of sight on the edge of the table in front of him. "I'm sorry, Kai-san. I don't think I'm-"

"Are you scared?" Kai prods, because if just asking to fight didn't cut it, a provocation might. He isn't going to let Kiba run away so easily.

The look that crosses Kiba's face at that moment tells Kai a few things. One, that Kiba is far more prone to the influence of his emotions than he lets on, and two, that the boy hasn't yet given up all hope, even if he himself isn't fully aware of it. Kiba still has the strength he needs inside of him; Kai just needs to help him drag it out.

Kiba straightens himself and defiantly pulls his own deck out of his pocket, placing it on the table with more force than strictly necessary.

Vanguard reveals a lot about a person; capable of showing what someone is thinking and feeling at a given moment. This has been proven to Kai time and time again, and now, it has become the one tried and true way Kai knows to reach out to someone. He isn't good with words, not anymore, but Vanguard can circumvent that.

And so they fight. And Kiba loses. Again. And again. And again.

With each loss, Kiba appears to lose another fragment of his carefully constructed image of composure. At the very least, after the first match, Kai no longer needed to prompt Kiba to keep fighting him. Instead, it is Kiba who desperately demands rematch after rematch, seeming to realize the meaning and weight behind his endless streak of losses, as well as the way they reflect his current emotional state: lost, helpless, overwhelmed and most of all, defeated.

All Kai can do now is fight at his full strength and wait. There is no answer that Kai can just give Kiba; the answers are all Kiba's and Kiba's alone, but Kai will provide the road for which Kiba finds them, no matter how long it takes, because Kai can see it in the boy's eyes: that smoldering determination to grasp his own salvation, regardless of how many times he will have to burn for it.

There is a certain kind of morbid nostalgia that Kai feels as Kiba yet again places his sixth card in the damage zone, after failing to draw the heal trigger he was clearly counting on. The unbridled frustration and self hatred that accompanies Kiba's helpless struggle is almost chillingly familiar.

When you're forced to watch your two greatest rivals- two of your closest friends- outstrip your own strength so fast that you can't even hope to keep up anymore- forced to watch as you slowly fade out of relevance from their lives- it brings with it a sense of despairing weakness unlike any other.

In the back of his mind, Kai could almost feel the hilt of an imaginary blade in his grip as he recalled the instance of his life where he had imagined- no- _experienced_  himself cutting down a part of himself that he has always upheld as his moral compass, as the one thing he values the most in any person with one stroke of a metaphorical blade. He has once been on a path that led to the world's destruction for the sake of nothing more than fulfilling his desire for power- the power to overcome not just his strongest rivals, but _himself_ \- his internalized failings and every adversity he could ever face.

Kiba's struggle to escape the shackles of his own weakness could destroy him, just as Kai's had almost done for himself, had Aichi not been there for him.

Kai watches as Kiba suffers yet another overwhelming defeat at his hands.

" _Again!_   _One more!_ "

But Kai has decided that he won't give up on Kiba, just as Aichi never gave up on him."Is that all you've got?"

" _One more time!_ "

So Kai will push him as hard as he must. "Are you giving in already?"

" _Not yet!_ "

If Kiba is willing to burn to reach his answer, Kai will gladly oblige.

Kai grips his cards tightly in his hand, and affixes Kiba with his gaze, daring the boy to rise to his challenge.

" _Final turn_."

Kiba flinches at Kai's proclamation and he guards; he guards with every card he has that could but Kai knows he can't defend against it all, and Kiba is forced to place his sixth card on his damage zone for what could honestly be the hundredth time since they got here for all they knew.

Kiba slumps over his scattered cards, shielding his face behind clenched fists without a word. Defeated.

Kai wonders if this is how he himself had appeared back then, outmatched and outclassed by the Link Joker deck and it's user. Bruised and beaten by a foe that was simply out of his league, one that sent calculated blows to his psyche in every place it knew it would hurt the most. Sometimes, Kai wonders if the result would have been different had someone else been there with him; had Aichi or Ren been there, would he have still fallen to his own weakness? If Aichi had been there to show him the way, would he have listened?

"Picture it." Kai says.

Kiba goes rigid at these words and Kai waits.

_ Woah! You're pretty beat up! Did you lose a fight or something? _

Kiba eventually stirs, slowly drawing his hands from their defensive position in front of him to under, and starts to push himself back upright.

_ Here! I'll give you this guy! Listen up, okay? Picture yourself big and strong, like the warrior on that card! _

Kiba locks his eyes with Kai's, the fire in them relit with determination far stronger than before.

_ I still can't picture myself any stronger, but the person who showed me the way to strength was you, Kai-kun! _

"One more...!"

\----

In the end, Kiba couldn't win a single fight.

Kai eyes Kiba, who has fallen asleep from what must be sheer exhaustion, with a considering look. By the last round, Kai knew that Kiba had finally found his answer, whatever it was. Shortly thereafter, Kiba dropped like a rock, which simply illustrates how close to complete exhaustion he was by then. Kai suspects Kiba only stayed awake for so long by sheer force of will alone. He definitely deserves a rest.

The problem now is, Kai doesn't know where Kiba lives, exactly. He doesn't want to wake the boy up either; it seems unnecessarily cruel to interrupt his sleep after everything Kai has put him through in the past few hours. At the same time, it's gotten really late, and Kai didn't have anyone to ask to figure out where Kiba's apartment is, much less find his way into said apartment to drop the boy off. He can't bring Kiba back to his own place either, no doubt it would make Kiba extremely uncomfortable, considering they really hardly knew each other.

He stares in consternation for a moment longer before letting out a sigh. He'll stay with Kiba at the launderette until the boy either wakes up or till morning comes, just to make sure he doesn't get robbed in his sleep or something.

Kai takes his time gathering his cards before returning them to his deck case and back into his jacket pocket. After a moment's consideration, he gathers up Kiba's deck as well, carefully picking up the cards around the sleeping boy to avoid waking him. He notices, to his mild amusement, that Kiba, even in his sleep, is lightly gripping his favoured unit, Altmile, in his hand, and Kai chooses to leave that particular card where it is.

While Kai busies himself with this task, he eventually realizes that it has actually gotten much colder than when they had first entered the room, and that Kiba is rather unequipped to sleep here all the way till morning without the risk of catching a cold or something. Kai was so absorbed with the fight that he hadn't noticed the rain outside, which is the likely cause of the chill. Kai considers this for a moment, then carefully sets the deck next to Kiba on the table, and goes to pick up his bag from where he left it.

Kai takes his time digging around his belongings to find something suitable to keep Kiba warm, and eventually pulls out one of his many jackets. He happens to randomly pick the one he actually doesn't really wear anymore; a jacket he still holds on to simply due to some strange sentimental streak that wouldn't allow him to put it away.

It's the black jacket from several years ago, the very one he often wore during his run at the Asia Circuit. The memories he has of that time as a whole aren't exactly his fondest, what with the whole prospect of the eradication of several clans on the planet Cray, but they are definitely a far cry from the world of hurt he went though during the Link Joker events. Kai remembers with a small smile, though, that Aichi had helped him one way or another in both of those instances.

He stares at the article of clothing in his hands for a moment longer, then stands, silently walks over to Kiba, and drapes the jacket over the boy's back and shoulders.

When morning finally comes, Kai decides to leave without it.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading! I don't usually write serious stuff, but I was really compelled to write about this scene in particular right after watching it! I tried to tie the fic with actual events in that episode, but I did take a few small creative liberties... I hope it was still okay!
> 
> Once again, thanks for reading!


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